From the editorial page at the start of the magazine:
'Mark my words'
It was a pleasure to interview Mark Knopfler for this months cover story. As we were talking, a memory from teenage years came to mind. Occasionally, I'd drop by a friends house, where his older brother would often hold court dispensing worldly wisdom to us young'uns. One day, he declared it was a scientific fact that Mark Knopfler was the best guitarist in the world!! As if Knopfler had been fitted with sensors in Swiss institute alongside Page, Clapton, Gilmour and others and come out on top. I was telling a workmate about this and he recalled a family argument that nearly errupted over the same surprisingly contentious point..is Mark Knopfler the greatest guitarist in the world? Lots of people are passionately connected with Knopfler's music, as some are to football teams - and that's not purely down to his playing. It's also the stories he tells in his lyrics.
Like good short films, the scenes and people in his songs are rooted in everyday experience, observed with a compassionate eye. I'd like to think that when vocal champions of Knopfler's playing call him the best in the world, they mean he is a wonderful storyteller and songwriter too. Because all the technic in the world can't make people feel what a great lyric, accompanied by a handful of well chosen notes can....
Absolutely brilliant summarisation of our hero I'd say personally...
